• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.15-33
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• 2006

There are less studies on the adult suicide even though it's steep increase and negative effect on person itself, family and society. The purpose of the present study was to investigate factors that influence on the adult suicide and to categorize it. Using a case-study approach, a total of 61 cases were analyzed. Specifically, on the basis of the stress-vulnerability model, I scrutinized vulnerability factors(classified personal, family-environment, and social-environment factors) and precipitating events(classified personal, interpersonal events) influencing on the adult suicide. As the results of this study, adult suicide classified into 3 types, that is, 'risk type suicide', 'event-response type suicide', 'complex type'. And then I discussed the characteristics of the suicidal types and the method for reduction of adult suicide.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.72-86
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and understand the suicide ideation and survival experience of Korean elders in America. Methods: A phenomenological research method guided data collection and analysis. A total of five elders reported having had suicide ideation participated. Data were collected through individual in-depth interviews. All interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Coding was used to establish different concepts and categories. Results: The following three constituents have been identified: retrospective focus based on the suicide ideation through the immigrant life, facing reality through comparison between the life in America and in Korea, survival skills and constructing view of life. Conclusion: The result of this study may contribute for health professionals working at various crisis settings to understand Korean immigrant elders with suicide ideation.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.100-106
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• 2015

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to find out the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of elderly suicide attempters visiting emergency room, compared to non-elderly adult suicide attempters. Methods : We enrolled suicidal attempters who were treated in the emergency room of the Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital between June 2013 and July 2015. We conducted a retrospective chart review of 336 suicidal attempters, and compared sociodemographic and clinical characteristics between elderly and non-elderly adult suicide attempters. Results : During the study period, 336 patients visited the emergency room of the medical center after suicide attempts. Among these, there were 71 elderly(21.2%) and 265 non-elderly adult(79.8%) suicide attempters. The suicidal methods among elderly were poisoning(73.3%), hanging(19.7%), cutting(5.6%), and jumping(1.4%). Those in non-elderly were poisoning(73.2%), cutting(17.0%), hanging(6.8%), and jumping(3.0%). The elderly suicide attempters had the tendency to choose more dangerous methods and showed higher lethality compared to adult suicide attempters(20.6% vs. 1.9%, ${\chi}^2=34.565$, p<0.05). On the other hand, premorbid psychiatric disorders had been more commonly diagnosed in non-elderly adults than elderly suicide attempters(49.8% vs. 26.8%, ${\chi}^2=12.024$, p<0.05). Conclusions : The results provide evidence of different sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of elderly suicide attempters compared to non-elderly ones visiting the emergency room. Through this study, it can be seen that the suicide attempt in the elderly tends to be severer than in the non-elderly, but only a small portion of them seek for help from psychiatric intervention. Further study is required to provide effective suicide prevention programs for elderly population.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2024

Background: Although Korea ranks first in the suicide rate of elderly individuals, there is limited research on those who attempt suicide, with preventive measures largely based on population-based studies. We compared the demographic and clinical characteristics of elderly individuals who attempted suicide with those of younger adults who visited the emergency department after suicide attempts and identified the factors associated with lethality in the former group. Methods: Individuals who visited the emergency department after a suicide attempt from April 1, 2017, to January 31, 2020, were included. Participants were classified into two groups according to age (elderly, ≥65 years; adult, 18-64 years). Among the 779 adult patients, 123 were elderly. We conducted a chi-square test to compare the demographic and clinical features between these groups and a logistic regression analysis to identify the risk factors for lethality in the elderly group. Results: Most elderly participants were men, with no prior psychiatric history or suicide attempts, and had a higher prevalence of underlying medical conditions and attributed their attempts to physical illnesses. Being sober and planning suicide occurred more frequently in this group. In the elderly group, factors that increased the mortality rate were biological male sex (p<0.05), being accompanied by family members (p<0.05), and poisoning as a suicide method (p<0.01). Conclusion: Suicide attempts in elderly individuals have different characteristics from those in younger adults and are associated with physical illness. Suicides in the former group are unpredictable, deliberate, and fatal. Therefore, tailored prevention and intervention strategies addressing the characteristics of those who are elderly and attempt suicide are required.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.123-134
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to understand and describe the experiences of young Korean women with attempted suicide. Methods: The data were collected by individual interviews from four women who attempted suicide during 2008-2009. A total of 25 hours interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data were analyzed using feminist phenomenology to reflect and respect the participants' view and experience as much as possible. Results: Five theme clusters and ten themes emerged from the analysis. Five theme clusters include "anger resulting from others-oriented life," "guilt resulting from selfish life," "confusion resulting from unbalanced life between self and others," "attempted suicide resulting from the chaos of life as a whole," and "peace resulting from balanced life between self and others." While these theme clusters represent the phases of life experience, ten themes indicate specific problems or strategies raised during these phases in the context of male-oriented Korean patriarchal society. Conclusion: The results of the study provide insights by deeply understanding of life of young women who attempted suicide in the Korean sociocultural context with the ideology of the subjection of women.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.121-127
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• 2014

Recently, local governments and suicide prevention centers have been trying to implement psychological autopsy. This effort has focused on adult suicide so far ; however, there are some difficulties in its application to adolescent suicide. Therefore, in this study, psychological autopsy studies of Korea were reviewed, and a methodology for adolescents' psychological autopsy was suggested. For the effective performance of the psychological autopsy in adolescent suicide, cooperation with each area of the government and implementation of bodies is necessary. In addition, the central system, which disseminates the standardized interview to the community and manages the data nationwide, should be prepared. Also, in order to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and to obtain various types of information, a structured interview should be adopted as the psychological autopsy, as well as considering the use of social media. Investigation of specific risk factors for adolescent suicide through psychological autopsy can enable determination of the intervention point for effective suicide prevention.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.167-176
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aimed to verify the effectiveness of suicide prevention education using the "Life Charger" program for older adults. Methods: This study conducted the "Life Charger"suicide prevention education with 95 older adults in the experimental group. Participants were recruited from a senior welfare center and a senior citizen center in D metropolitan city, and their attitudes toward suicide and sense of competence in providing help before and after the education were investigated. While no measures were taken for the control group, their attitudes toward suicide and help-giving competence were surveyed during the same period. Statistics were analyzed using SPSS 23.0, demographic variables of the experimental and control groups were calculated as percentiles, and Chi-square analysis and paired-sample t-test were performed to verify the homogeneity of the experimental and control groups. Results: To verify the effectiveness of the "Life Charger"suicide prevention education, the effectiveness of attitude toward suicide before and after the education was verified. The experimental group showed a significantly higher level (t=-6.34, p<.000). Their competence in providing help was also at a significantly higher level (t=-10.20, p<.000). Upon verifying the effectiveness of the program, the experimental group's attitude toward suicide was found to be significantly higher; however, the control group showed no change in attitude toward suicide and competence in providing help. Conclusion: This study verified that the "Life Charger"suicide prevention education for older adults was effective in increasing attitudes toward suicide and sense of competence in providing help. To increase the effectiveness of suicide prevention education for older adults, follow-up research should determine whether there are any actual changes after the training, and attitudes toward suicide and help-providing competence should be increase d through universal and repetitive education to prevent suicide among older adults.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.4831-4836
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• 2016

The study aimed to find out to what degree suicidal thoughts and associated factors affect the suicide risk of advanced cancer patients. The frequency of suicidal thoughts among patients with cancer, especially in the advanced stages, is about 3 times greater than the adult average in South Korea. We recruited 457 participants with four types of cancers (colon, breast, cervical, and lung) using stratified sampling. Data collection was carried out through one-on-one interviews by trained nurses using a structured questionnaire. Advanced cancer patients with high, vs. low, levels of anxiety and pain had a higher suicide risk. In contrast, having one's spouse as the primary care provider was associated with a low suicide risk. Overall, the three factors of anxiety, pain, and the primary caregiver being one's spouse explained 17.2% of the variance in suicide risk. In conclusion, we derived influencing factors of suicide risk using a sample of patients with various types of advanced cancer. The results provide systematic baseline data for preparing nurse-led interventions to prevent suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts among advanced cancer patients.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.429-444
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to identify the risk factor and protection factor related to suicide ideation in each life course based on an ecological-system perspective. A questionnaire was carried out for 393 adolescents, 473 adults and 376 aged men living nationwide. The results are as follows. First, the suicide ideation was low with 1.78 points in the full mark of 5 points. Second, the difference in suicide ideation, depression, hopelessness, stress in the organic system variables, family solidarity in the micro system variables, intermediate system variables, residence, the existence/inexistence of counselling center and the influence of mass media in mezo system variables in each life course were significant. Third, the relative influence of organic system variables on the suicide ideation were largest in all life courses. Further, the depression and the influence of mass media in all life courses were a risk factor of suicide ideation and stress was also a risk factor of suicide ideation in the case of adolescents and the aged. When examining protection factors of suicide ideation, family solidarity, minute as it is, works as the protection factor of suicide ideation in the case of adolescents. For the adults, living in a metropolis was a protection factor from suicide ideation. For the aged, family solidarity, family history of suicide and adult children's attention to their friends and neighbors (intermediate system variable) were protection factors from suicide ideation. I suggested that policy, service, counseling and educational program proper to each life course were necessary to lower risk factors of suicide ideation and to improve protection factors.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.75-79
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• 2017

Suicide is becoming a public health issue in many countries, and even more so in Korea. Korea has the highest suicide rate in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. To address these issues, we investigated the recent trends in suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among the adult population. We used data from four sources: Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, '2007-2012, '2013, '2015), Korean Community Health Survey (KCHS, '2008-2009, '2013), Korean Wealth Panel Study (KOWEPS, '2012-2015), and Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP, '2010-2013). Weighted frequencies and trend tests were used. The rate of suicidal ideation as recent year was 5.10% (KNHANES, '2015), 8.95% (KCHS, '2013), 2.34% (KOWEPS, '2015), or 5.39% (KHP, '2013). Regarding the suicide attempts, the rate of suicide attempts as recent year was 0.61% (KNHANES, '2015), 0.41% (KCHS, '2013), or 0.04% (KOWEPS, '2015). Average percent change of suicidal ideation during survey year was -2.80% (KNHANES, '2007-2012), 5.78% (KNHANES, '2013-2015), 0.62% (KCHS, '2008-2013), -5.63% (KOWEPS, '2012-2015), and -10.94% (KHP, '2010-2013). Average percent change of suicide attempts during survey year was -3.84% (KNHANES, '2007-2012), 4.55% (KNHANES, '2013-2015), -2.54% (KCHS, '2008-2013), and -18.96% (KOWEPS, '2012-2015). Those who had lower income level were more likely to have self-reported suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Our results suggest that further efforts are needed for more effective intervention to identify and manage low income strata with suicide problem.